Ventilation and air heating treatment installation in a building comprising several housing units

ABSTRACT

The invention concerns the installation of a double-flow ventilation system with a ventilation unit blowing air drawn from outside the building into the living quarters: drawing-rooms, bedrooms of various housing units, and a ventilation unit ( 5 ), having the same characteristics as the blowing unit, extracting air from the functional quarters: kitchens, bathrooms blown air from the functional quarters, air supply and air extraction at each housing unit being carried out through ducts common to the entire building. Said installation further comprises at the connection to each housing unit to a pair of ducts ( 6, 7 ) respectively for blowing and for extracting air an individual thermodynamic unit ( 8 ) specific to the housing unit concerned and whereon passes the stream on ventilating air, the evaporator and the condenser of said unit being arranged respectively on one of the two air blowing and air extracting fluxes.

[0001] The subject of the present invention is an installation forventilation in a building comprising several housing units. The termhousing unit is to be understood in the broadest sense, and can referjust as easily to housing units for dwelling as to other premises, forexample those for use as offices.

[0002] To carry out air quality treatment, the most conventionalsolution consists in using single-flow controlled mechanicalventilation. A ventilation unit placed, for example, on the roof of thebuilding, extracts air from the functional quarters, such as kitchensand bathrooms, of the various housing units, while the air is admittedto the living quarters of the various housing units via air inletsplaced, for example, in the door or window frames. These air inlets maygive rise to acoustic disturbances because they allow noise from theoutside to pass and may lead to thermal discomfort in winter, in thatthey let cold air in. As there is no possibility of recuperating energyon the renewal of air, the ventilation is therefore a significant sourceof heat loss.

[0003] Another known solution relates to double-flow ventilatingsystems. In this case, there is a ventilation unit blowing air takenfrom outside the building into the living quarters (drawing rooms,bedrooms, etc.) of the various housing units, and a ventilation unit,having the same characteristics as the blowing unit, extracting the airfrom the functional quarters (kitchens, bathrooms, etc.) of the varioushousing units. Individual static air-air exchangers may be arranged ateach housing unit or at the ventilation units to preheat the blown-inair using the extracted air. The thermal balance is therefore betterthan that of a single flow installation because energy is recuperatedfrom the extracted air. Furthermore, the problems of acousticdisturbance are eliminated because there are no air inlets placing eachroom of the living quarters in communication with the outside.

[0004] Increasingly, the problem of year-round heat treatment of the airalso arises.

[0005] A first solution consists in individual air conditioning systemseach comprising an external unit and an internal unit operating withrecirculation. Such a system, which is completely independent of theventilation, is very demanding from the point of view of installing it,because it is necessary to provide an external unit and a refrigerantfluid network. Aside from the high cost of production, such aninstallation may also cause acoustic disturbances with a unit on theoutside and a blower on the inside of the housing unit, and for the samereasons may prove to be visually unattractive.

[0006] Another solution consists in providing a communal external unitconnected either to a communal cold battery placed on the blowingnetwork or to individual units placed in the housing units and operatingwith recirculation. This solution, aside from its lack of flexibility,is not used nowadays in housing units intended for dwellings because itposes problems regarding regulations, the metering of energy perapartment, and losses in the pipes.

[0007] The object of the invention is to provide an installation forventilation and heat treatment of air in a building comprising severalhousing units, which is of simple and modifiable structure.

[0008] To this end, the installation to which the invention relates, ofthe type comprising a double flow ventilation system with a ventilationunit blowing air taken from outside the building into the livingquarters: drawing rooms, bedrooms, etc. of the various housing units,and a ventilation unit, having the same characteristics as the blowingunit, performing air extraction from the functional quarters: kitchens,bathrooms, etc. of the air blown into the functional quarters, the airbeing conveyed to and extracted from each housing unit via ductscommunal to the building, is characterized in that it comprises, at theconnection of each housing unit to a pair of ducts, these being,respectively, a blowing duct and an extraction duct, an individualthermodynamic unit dedicated to the housing unit in question and overwhich the ventilation airflow passes, the evaporator and the condenserof this unit being arranged one on the blowing flow and one on theextraction flow, respectively.

[0009] Advantageously, the thermodynamic unit is housed in a casingcomprising at least two compartments each equipped with an air inlet andwith an air outlet and respectively containing the evaporator and thecondenser of the thermodynamic unit.

[0010] According to one implementation of this installation, theevaporator of the thermodynamic unit is arranged on the flow of airblown into the housing unit, and the condenser is arranged on the flowof air extracted from the housing unit.

[0011] The installation according to the invention therefore comprisescommunal ventilation units and individual thermodynamic subassembliesand pipes without blowers. The individual thermodynamic subassembliesare installed on the communal air loop, which provides communal doubleflow controlled mechanical ventilation for the building.

[0012] The installation according to the invention therefore makes itpossible to manage overall air quality in each housing unit by providingthe regulation air renewal flow rates and filtering the blown-in air. Inaddition to this air quality management, the installation allowspersonalized heat treatment by producing cold during the summer months,using the air conveyed by the communal ventilation. The air blown in iscooled by passing over the evaporator of the thermodynamic unit, and theheat energy is removed by the air extracted from the controlledmechanical ventilation. To improve the performance of the thermodynamicsystem, this installation comprises a bypass pipe between thecompartments containing the evaporator and the condenser, allowing anadditional flow of air that does not pass through the housing unit topass over the condenser. That allows an increase in the thermodynamicpower without adversely affecting the thermal balance of the housingunit in question.

[0013] In order not to disrupt the equilibrium of the ventilationcolumn, mounted on the bypass pipe is a damper which is placed in theopen position when the thermodynamic unit is in operation with theblown-in airflow passing over the evaporator, and which is moved intoits closed position upon the switch to the position of maximumextraction flow rate from the kitchen.

[0014] According to an advantageous implementation of this installation,during the winter months, the condenser of the thermodynamic unit isarranged in the flow of air blown into the housing unit, and theevaporator is arranged in the flow of air extracted from the housingunit. The thermodynamic system recuperates the energy from the extractedair and uses it to heat the blown-in air. The damper on the bypass pipeis then in the closed position.

[0015] The bypass pipe may also contain a flow regulating module placedupstream or downstream of the damper. This module is intended forequalizing the flow rate in the various apartments when there is a highnumber of these.

[0016] Advantageously, the thermodynamic unit is of the reversible type,with the possibility of reversing the direction of refrigerant and ofswapping the functions of the evaporator and of the condenser. Thisarrangement makes it possible, without modifying the path of thecirculated air at the thermodynamic unit, to use the unit to preheat theair in the winter and to cool the air in the summer.

[0017] According to another feature of the invention, the thermodynamicunit is connected to an operating keypad and controlled by a thermostatarranged in the housing unit.

[0018] In the absence of another heating system, an optional additionalheating device may be installed on the blowing side. For this, the ventopenings for blowing air into the various rooms of the living quartersare equipped with an additional device for electrically heating theblown-in air, which can be operated by a temperature probe alsoconnected to the thermodynamic unit. Depending on the requirements ofthe housing unit, this device may operate either only with the fresh airflow rate or with an additional air flow rate recirculated at theblowing vent aperture if the required power is too high.

[0019] Each room is therefore individually regulated at each blowingterminal. As this room-by-room regulation is connected to thethermodynamic system by the electronic management system, the overallsettings can be optimized while at the same time avoiding the problemsof conflicting operation between the thermodynamic system and theadditional electric heating resistive elements.

[0020] The following various advantages relating to such an installationmay be noted.

[0021] Air quality is guaranteed by the controlled mechanicalventilation system, with flow rates that meet the regulations and thepossibility of filtering the blown-in air.

[0022] From the thermal point of view, comfort is obtained in the summerby cooling the air, by recuperation of energy from the extracted air,and in the winter by preheating the blown-in air, which leads to asaving on heating consumption. This involves individual regulation ateach thermodynamic unit, with consumption metered individually andwithout needless thermal losses in the pipes passing through thecommunal parts of the building.

[0023] As far as the design of the installation is concerned, it shouldbe noted that it is not absolutely essential for all the housing unitsto be equipped with a thermodynamic unit, it being possible for certainhousing units to be equipped with such a unit and for other housingunits to be equipped with a static exchanger, with the possibility, whendesired, of replacing the static exchanger with a thermodynamicexchanger, in order to spread the investment cost,

[0024] As far as operation is concerned, it must be kept in mind thateach thermodynamic module is autonomous, requires no installation of afluid network, has no unit external to the building, as is the case withknown air conditioning devices, and has no internal blower, as is thecase with known ventilation devices, because the airflow rate isguaranteed by the communal controlled mechanical ventilation system ofthe building.

[0025] In any event, the invention will be clearly understood with theaid of the description which follows with reference to the appendeddiagrammatic drawing, which, by way of non-limiting example, representsone form of embodiment of this installation:

[0026]FIGS. 1 and 2 are two diagrammatic views of an installation inwinter operation and summer operation, respectively;

[0027]FIGS. 3 and 4 are two views of a thermodynamic module with which ahousing unit is equipped, in the winter position and in the summerposition, respectively;

[0028]FIG. 5 is a view of a casing containing a thermodynamic module;

[0029]FIG. 6 is a very diagrammatic view of one method of regulating athermodynamic module.

[0030]FIGS. 1 and 2 depict a building comprising two housing units 2 and3. In the upper part of the building are arranged an air blowing unit 4and an air extraction unit 5 engineered to suit the configurations ofthe network. The air blowing unit 4 sends air via a column 6 to thevarious housing units, while air is extracted from these via the unit 5via a column 7. The blowing of air and the extraction at each housingunit is carried out by a casing containing a thermodynamic unit 8. Thethermodynamic unit denoted by the general reference 8 comprises a casingdivided into two compartments by a central partition 9, each compartmentcomprising an air inlet orifice and an air outlet orifice.

[0031] In FIG. 5, the fresh-air inlet orifice is denoted by the generalreference 10, the fresh-air outlet orifice to the housing unit by thereference 12, the orifice for taking air back from the housing unit bythe reference 13, and the orifice for discharging air to the outside bythe reference 14. The thermodynamic unit comprises, in a way known perse, a compressor 15 and an evaporator 16 and a condenser 17, theevaporator 16 and the condenser 17 being housed in two separatecompartments. It should be noted that arranged on the refrigerantcircuit is a four-way valve 18, which allows the direction of flow ofthe fluid to be reversed. It is thus possible to swap the functionsperformed by the evaporator and the condenser, the evaporator becoming acondenser and vice versa, depending on the direction in which the fluidflows.

[0032] As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, there is a bypass pipe between the twocompartments of the casing containing the thermodynamic unit, thisbypass pipe being equipped with a damper 19 allowing it to be closed.During the winter months, in order to preheat the air, with the damper19 in the closed position, the four-way valve 18 mounted on therefrigerant circuit is switched in such a way that the element situatedin the compartment for blowing air in toward the housing unit is thecondenser, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3.

[0033] By contrast, in the summer months, the valve 18 is switched sothat the element forming the evaporator is in the air blowing part ofthe casing and the element forming the condenser is in the extractionpart of the casing. The damper 19 is then in the open position as shownin FIG. 4 to allow some of the air, with a certain flow rate, to passdirectly over the condenser in order to improve the performance of thethermodynamic unit.

[0034] It is possible to combine with the damper 19 a flow regulatingmodule 21 which is intended to even out the flow rate in the variousapartments when there is a high number of these.

[0035]FIG. 6 very diagrammatically depicts the regulation and control ofa thermodynamic unit. This figure depicts an air blowing vent aperture20 which is equipped with a heating module, for example an electricheating module. An extraction vent in the kitchen is denoted by thereference 22. This figure also depicts a switch 23 for switching theflow rate in the kitchen from a normal ventilation value to a higherventilation value, for example to allow a switch from 45 to 135 m³ ofair extracted per hour. There is also a temperature probe 24 per mainroom comprising a vent 20 and a master operating keypad with an internaltemperature probe 25. It is possible to set the mode of operation of thethermodynamic unit to cooling or heating using the operating keypad.Furthermore, the associated temperature probe allows the operation ofthe thermodynamic unit to be switched on and off. The switch 23 makes itpossible, when the unit is being used to cool the air, to close thedamper 19 when the value of the flow rate extracted from the kitchen isincreased, in order not to unbalance the ventilation column.

[0036] The temperature probe 24 connected to the thermodynamic moduleplaced in a main room of the living quarters equipped with a vent withan additional heating system makes it possible to optimize regulationand to avoid problems of conflicting operation between the thermodynamicunit and the additional heating system.

[0037] As goes without saying, the invention is not restricted to thesole embodiment of this installation which has been describedhereinabove by way of example; on the contrary, it encompasses allalternative forms thereof. Thus, in particular, one and the same housingunit may be equipped, depending on its size, with several thermodynamicunits or, alternatively, the vents for distributing fresh air to theliving quarters could have no additional heating system, without this inany way departing from the scope of the invention.

1. An installation for ventilation and heat treatment of air in abuilding comprising several housing units, of the type comprising adouble flow ventilation system with a ventilation unit blowing air takenfrom outside the building into the living quarters: drawing rooms,bedrooms, etc. of the various housing units, and a ventilation unit (5),having the same characteristics as the blowing unit, performing airextraction from the functional quarters: kitchens, bathrooms, etc. ofthe air blown into the functional quarters, the air being conveyed toand extracted from each housing unit via ducts communal to the building,the installation being characterized in that it comprises, at theconnection of each housing unit to a pair of ducts (6, 7), these being,respectively, a blowing duct and an extraction duct, an individualthermodynamic unit (8) dedicated to the housing unit in question andover which the ventilation airflow passes, the evaporator and thecondenser of this unit being arranged one on the blowing flow and one onthe extraction flow, respectively.
 2. The ventilation installation asclaimed in claim 1, characterized in that the thermodynamic unit (8) ishoused in a casing comprising at least two compartments each equippedwith an air inlet (10, 13) and with an air outlet (12, 14) andrespectively containing the evaporator (16) and the condenser (17) ofthe thermodynamic unit.
 3. The ventilation installation as claimed inone of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the evaporator (16) of thethermodynamic unit (8) is arranged on the flow of air blown into thehousing unit, and the condenser (17) is arranged on the flow of airextracted from the housing unit.
 4. The ventilation installation asclaimed in claim 3, characterized in that it comprises a bypass pipebetween the compartments containing the evaporator and the condenser andallowing an additional flow of air that does not pass through thehousing unit to pass over the condenser (17).
 5. The ventilationinstallation as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that mounted on thebypass pipe is a damper (19) which is placed in the open position whenthe thermodynamic unit is in operation with the blown-in airflow passingover the evaporator, and which is moved into its closed position uponthe switch to the position of maximum extraction flow rate from thekitchen.
 6. The installation as claimed in either of claims 4 and 5,characterized in that the bypass pipe is equipped with a flow regulatingmodule (21).
 7. The ventilation installation as claimed in one of claims1 and 2, characterized in that the condenser (17) of the thermodynamicunit is arranged in the flow of air blown into the housing unit, and theevaporator (16) is arranged in the flow of air extracted from thehousing unit.
 8. The ventilation installation as claimed in claims 3 to7, characterized in that the thermodynamic unit (8) is of the reversibletype, with the possibility of reversing the direction of the refrigerantand of swapping the functions of the evaporator and of the condenser. 9.The ventilation installation as claimed in one of claims 1 to 8,characterized in that the thermodynamic unit (8) is connected to anoperating keypad (25) and controlled by a thermostat arranged in thehousing unit.
 10. The ventilation installation as claimed in one ofclaims 1 to 9, characterized in that the vent openings (20) for blowingair into the various rooms of the living quarters are equipped with anadditional device for electrically heating the blown-in air, which canbe operated by a temperature probe (24) also connected to thethermodynamic unit (8).